As a medical landlord you not only want to create a high-value space for your tenants, but you want to ensure your space is delivering the best possible ROI. By reimagining your building as a “healthy” building, you can achieve both.
Healthy buildings are those that have been optimized to promote tenants’ health, productivity, and well-being. Offering improved air quality, natural light, noise deadening, and nature-inspired materials, they promote comfort and wellness in a thoughtful, holistic manner. And because they’re a place that people want to be, healthy buildings command a rental premium – between 4.4 and 7.7% more per square foot than “standard” buildings.
What Does a Healthy Building Look Like?
With Americans spending 90% of their time indoors, the quality of the spaces they inhabit matters. Healthy buildings incorporate a number of functional and design features that improve the tenant experience. These include:
- Good air quality and airflow, from sustainable sources
- Access to natural light and lighting from sustainable sources
- Thermal control that allows for comfortable humidity levels and working conditions
- Noise reduction technologies to reduce stress and distractions
- Ergonomic qualities that make using or moving around the building easy
- A walkable site that people can move around and easily access other key spaces or facilities
- A building design that allows people to fulfill a variety of personal and social needs, for example eating, exercising, or gathering
- A safe setting that people feel comfortable enjoying or traveling to
A Long-Term Draw with an Eye on Tomorrow
In addition to enjoying higher rental rates, healthy buildings attract high-quality tenants, have lower vacancy rates, and are more likely to retain tenants. This helps remove uncertainty from rental projections, while also boosting resale value, along with GRESB scores. Additionally, while healthy buildings are currently a point of differentiation that command a premium in the market, wellness integration is increasingly becoming an expectation in the market – much like how “green” buildings are now typical. Landlords who ensure their buildings are designed in line with healthy building standards or that officially certify their buildings are positioning themselves for success both now and in the future.
Tenants Reap the Financial Benefits Too
Although buildings backed by certifications including WELL, RESET, and LEED IAQ may be slightly more expensive to lease, tenants benefit financially as well. Healthy buildings have been found to improve overall well-being, reduce stress, and reduce respiratory and other chronic illnesses. The result is a significant reduction in absenteeism and presenteeism, as well as improved productivity, performance, and morale. Staff turnover is also significantly lower, with tenants also spending less on healthcare costs. In the medical space, healthy buildings are also a selling point for patients, especially in the post-COVID-19 context where social distancing, air quality, and no-touch surfaces remain a priority. Overall, the bottom line gain is that healthy buildings deliver dramatically outweigh the minor up-front cost – making it unsurprising that tenant retention in such buildings is significantly (6%) higher.
Talk to GZ About Connecting with a Healthy Building
The team at Gittleson Zuppas Medical Realty is happy to connect healthcare tenants with certified healthy buildings or advise landlords and developers on how to obtain certification for a new or existing space. Talk to us today about how a healthy building can translate into improved outcomes for your staff or tenants – and your bottom line.